The Heat Will Get You
by Carrie Anderson
Summary: A simple mission turns to tragedy for Archer and Cutler, who are both unaware of the deadly surface conditions they are about to enter into. T'Pol is left on the ship unaware of how she should react. Inspired by a forum challenge.


**_The Heat Will Get You_**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Enterprise or any of the characters except for the ones you don't know (if I decide to add any).

**A.N:** This is my first Enterprise fanfic, so please be nice (that means you Telaka!!) Anyway, the basic idea came from a challenge on the Logical Choice forum which Telaka thought I should try to get me away from my Dirty Dancing fanfic.

As I am a nice little Scottish person I have not yet seen any of season three, I only know what I have read so if I contradict anything please forgive me. Finally, as I said I am Scottish so the wording may be slightly different from you Americans, and for that I apologise.

Anyway, on with the story!

**Chapter One**

_"Why are there no doors to slam on this damn ship?!"_

"What seems to be the problem Captain?"

For most people, seeing their captain screaming as he walked into an empty mess hall would have shaken them up a bit, but T'Pol, who was only just getting used to human emotions, saw it as another meaningless human trait.

"Two months! _Two months!_"

T'Pol, cool as ever, simply asked, "Two months till what Captain?"

Archer, still fuming, tried to answer his Sub-Commander while still in a rage. "Two months _since_, not _till_, we found a planet to explore, and believe me if it is another two months we have to wait to find one, I'll find more than a door to slam!"

"But there are no doors to slam Captain, I thought that was the problem."

Archer turned to T'Pol in deep frustration. "That's not the problem Sub-Commander, the problem is that we have been wandering in space for two months since our last encounter and I came here to meet new life, and we haven't met any!"

"That's not true Captain, we have encountered many different species." She checked her scanner, "Klingons, Suliban, Andorians, Tandarans, but to name a few."

"In the last _two months_ Sub-Commander. Can your magic little scanner tell you if we have seen anyone on the last two months?"

T'Pol looked down at her scanner and simply said, "No."

"Well then," replied Archer in the calmest voice he had spoken in since his arrival in the mess hall, "I suggest you look in your little Vulcan star chats and _find me a planet!_"

"Yes Captain."

And with that T'Pol left her captain destroying anything he could find in the now very messy mess hall.

-----------------------

An hour later Captain Archer stormed onto the bridge in a state of intense anger and frustration. T'Pol had 'forgotten' to tell the other crew members of his display down in the mess hall.

"Well Sub-Commander, have you found me a planet?"

As he asked the question he sounded calmer then he had during his time in the mess hall, and seemed genuinely interested in what T'Pol had to say.

"Ensign Mayweather has informed me of a planet about 50 light-years from our current location. We have set a course and we should be there very soon."

Archer, breaking the first smile he had all day, sighed with relief and moved to embrace his Sub-Commander. T'Pol, unfamiliar with this, moved slightly out of the way. Archer, whose eyes were closed, was fortunate enough that someone was standing behind her to break his fall.

"Ah know ah've got a pretty face an' all Cap'in, but there's no need to go huggin' me when ah walk onto the bridge."

Archer opened his eyes and realised that he had not as he had planned, hugged T'Pol, but instead chief engineer Trip Tucker.

"And his face isn't even that pretty either."

Malcolm's last comment made the laugher, which everyone on the bridge (except T'Pol) had been suppressing, explode from their mouths. Even Archer was laughing, finally.

-----------------------

Within an hour they had arrived at the planet Archer had longed for. It was red with clouds and according to T'Pol, it was perfectly safe for humans to go there. As they had found the planet, Archer invited Mayweather and T'Pol to accompany him down. However Mayweather felt unwell and T'Pol wanted to stay on board the ship to take readings of the planet's atmosphere from above. So Archer decided to take entomologist Ensign Cutler with him as early readings indicated a vast insect population.

Within a further hour both Archer and Cutler were ready to go. Travis who was feeling better, but not well enough to explore, took them down to the planet in the shuttlepod and left them there to explore the land alone together.

-----------------------

**A.N: **Okay, that's the first chapter. Please read and review and I'll post more a.s.a.p.


End file.
